Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire

  • Mood:
  • Music:

Proofreader spotlight: Amanda.

(To be specific, today we're spotlighting Amanda-the-physicist, not Amanda-who-isn't-a-physicist. Why doesn't real life work like fiction, where two people are only allowed to have the same name if one of them promises to die five pages later?)

Amanda was one of the first people ever to get their hands on Rosemary and Rue, in a much earlier form. She's also one of my longest-running proofreaders, having now been involved with every book in the series. Oh, and she's married to Michael, the man that Newsflesh was functionally inspired by. All of which makes her an awesome friend, but not necessarily an awesome proofreader.

Luckily for me, she is an awesome proofreader, and because she's known me -- and been reading for me -- for so long, she's capable of making statements that might be offensive coming from just about anybody else. Right now, she's proofreading Late Eclipses of the Sun (the fourth Toby book), and had this to say:

"Okay, hon. During the Shadowed Hills sequence, they are all still having a major attack of stupid."

Behold the honesty! Being a) an academic, b) a folklore geek, and c) a scientist, she then proceeded to support this argument with fully two pages of 'this is why all your characters are dumb right here.' Seriously, two pages, not of edits or continuity catches, but of detailed and nit-picky textual critique. I'm going to lose my entire weekend to rewrites solely based on this set of notes, and I am overjoyed.

Good writers are made by talent, practice, persistence, luck, and alcoholic muses with sick senses of humor.

Great writers are made by their editors.
Tags: editing, gratitude, i love my editors, toby daye, writing
  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

  • 26 comments
Hee! It's a good thing you have Amanda because I just assume the text is right because it's TEXT. It must not be stupid; I must be stupid!
Awwwwwwwwww.

Yes, dear heart, but you beat up my text in other ways.
That's completely rockin'. :D
I am still making her corrections.
Having a fairly common and boring first name, I'm glad I'm not expected to die within 5 pages of encountering someone who shares it.
I only know two Phils, and you've...been in the same...okay, good point.
This post reassures me that I am not alone in my *coughs* somewhat abrasive approach to proofreading. Of course, sometimes the author deserves it, like the time Danny used 'green' twice in one sentence to describe grass.
Just checking -- was the grass green?
I think I asked him that. Also whether or not he thought he could put the word 'green' in there again just so that it wouldn't be ambiguous to the reader.

That was about four years ago now, and we're married now, so obviously my proofreading is not too scary.
A happy end for all!
What's so bad about the green, green grass of home?

OK, so that's probably not the way Danny used 'green' twice in one sentence.
Hee! Not quite -- I can't remember the exact sentence any more, but it was not intended as clever irony or anything, it was just him being a sillyhead.
We all get silly on occasion. It's the crazy coming out of us.

Deleted comment

It's totally what makes this amount of suffering worthwhile.

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

8 years ago

Deleted comment

seanan_mcguire

8 years ago

And I want your icon :)

seanan_mcguire

8 years ago

Oh, and in case it wasn't obvious, your editors love you too :)
I got that. :)
I hate my inability to edit my own comments. That should have read:

Being blunt is fun! I try not to do it too often. Anyway, in addition to the types of geekery you mentioned, my addiction to mystery novels definitely played a role here. It's impossible to eat that many mystery novels (including procedurals) before breakfast and not have it rub off in my editing.
I think you only get editing when your account is paid, sadly. And yes, your editing is awesome. When you're blunt, it's necessary.
Why doesn't real life work like fiction, where two people are only allowed to have the same name if one of them promises to die five pages later?

Run Amanda! Run, before she gets (one of) you.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
This Amanda is in awe
I shall keep you both.